'Everyone has rallied to help us,' say sons of assaulted US tourist
Mike and Jesse Rizzuto flew to Ireland from New York to be by their father's bedside this week.
The children of an American tourist who suffered life-changing injuries in an assault in Dublin have described their “shock” at seeing their father for the first time in hospital.
Stephen Rizzuto, 57, from Buffalo in New York, came to travel around the country and visit the home of his late mother from Co Mayo.
He was assaulted on Talbot St on July 19 and was taken to Beaumont Hospital for treatment.
His sons, Jesse and Mike, flew to Ireland from New York to be by his bedside this week.
“Our father is awake and out of the coma,” said Mike.
"It was upsetting to see him at first, no one wants to see a family member like that, the state that he’s in is pretty shocking.
"His eye is badly damaged, and we don’t know yet what will happen. I think he recognised us, he seemed to perk up when he looked at us”.
The brothers walked to Talbot St where their father was attacked and described it as “surreal”.
“It is really weird to be there, knowing that he was here on the ground, hurt ... it’s not good," said Jesse.
Their visit comes after the Government unveiled a €10m package aimed at increasing garda visibility in Dublin and to provide 240,000 extra Garda hours or 20,000 extra Garda shifts.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee said: “Dublin is a great city to live in, work in, and visit. I am committed to increasing the number of gardaí on our streets to ensure people feel safe, and to build stronger, safer communities."
Earlier this week, Mike told the that he believed the minister was “out of touch with her own people” after she described the city as “safe”.
However, yesterday Ms McEntee responded by saying she was willing to meet the family if they wished.
“I will meet her at the right time,” said Mike.
Jesse said Taoiseach Leo Varadkar telephoned them to express his concerns and to pass on his good wishes.
The brothers said they are “remaining positive” and were “forever indebted to the Irish people for their support”.
“It’s been absolutely unbelievable,” said Jesse, as he held up 50 get-well cards from the public.
“Just look at this. We don’t feel anyone ill will. Ireland is a wonderful place, we can see that, everyone has rallied to help us.”
“We set up a GoFundMe page to help us visit our father and we never expected it to reach the heights it did [€114,000]. We couldn’t have come otherwise. We hope to stay for a month."
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